Remnants of the Pocahontas
by The Raging Blue Flame
Summary: The men who built her, care for her, and put her through the paces will try to be casual when they refer to her as a 'J' - - that's her class. But you know from the expressions on their faces and the tones of their voices that they think of her, like you will, as the smartest, most fascinating thing that will ever hit Norfolk and Western rails!
1. Prologue

_Ironhorse… Phoenix… Thoroughbred… Queen of Steam, Spirit of Roanoke… The East Coast Bitch..._

I have many names, some not very nice but only few I actually identify with. I am no queen, though I appreciate the title. I am no workhorse, though I've been worked like one. I am a locomotive, a steam engine, the most powerful passenger engine in the world. I am the sole survivor of my class, the lone example of what a railway can do when they stick to conservative values and work within their own means.

I have died, only to come back only to perish once more and come back. Like a phoenix, but one that constantly resurrects within a cage. My life has always been decided for me, whether I agreed or not. From the moment I awoke within the Roanoke Shops my path had be drawn and paved for me. Like many other high-end passenger engines, my sisters and I were treated like royalty, the reality and inner workings of the world were kept secret. An engine cannot perform her duties if she's too busy worrying about the day she'll meet the cutting torch. On the Norfolk and Western, steam was king. Where young, Northern princesses giggle and gossip as they dream of the day their princes will arrive, and for some they did. Where the diesel was a common peasant, laughed at as it struggled to get up even the simplest of hills. Even now, in the 21st century we are held in such high regard.

Railfans young and old would enter Castle "Virginia Museum of Transportation" to reminisce with me about yesteryear. How they'd see my sisters run up, down, and through the mountains of the Appalachians, our smaller-than-average 70" drivers spinning wildly as massive valve gear and rods propelled us forward. I'm both amused and surprised by how much people appear to know about me and roots. For the record I am, and always will a southern girl raised in world of glitter and glamour. Though I am far from dainty, I can pretend to be well-mannered. I guess that's why I was the way I was growing up. I had no control of my life, but the outsiders didn't need to know that. All they needed to know that crossing me would result in a missing tender, unaware of the girl with everything to lose, doing her best to impress while maintaining her own identity.

And now as the black, gold, and Tuscan Red-painted phoenix rises from her ashes a third time, the doors open to another uncertain future. The clouds crumbling to the sun's rays as it shines.

It's my birthday today and I'm ready to go back home. I wouldn't have remembered if everyone hadn't been raving to me about it. I won't tell you my age though, a lady never does! But I'll tell you one thing, I ain't no old woman! It may have been 20 years, but I still know how to work the rails, I can bend the coaches and freight cars to my will. They won't be pushing me around if they know what's good for them. You should have seen those old, oversized switch diesels back at the Spencer event, trembling in fear as if they'd seen the devil himself!

Heh… maybe they did?

With the clanking of the air compressors and the hiss of steam, my bell dings and my whistle sounds off as I leave my temporary home. I am eager to prove my worth once more. I won't fail like before, there will not be a repeat of what happened in 1994, I forbid it. I'll show Norfolk Southern that retiring me had been mistake. I'll make my sisters proud and bring back the honor and respect once bestowed upon my class, you'll see!


	2. What's in a Name?

_Chapter 1 - What's in a Name?_

* * *

 _May 29, 1950 - Roanoke Shops, Virginia_

" _A sleeper, this one is." A disappointed voice said._

" _A J needs her beauty rest, sis." Another responded playfully._

" _Yo big sis, wake up!" A third, younger sounding voice shouted._

A loud, earth shattering noise roused my senses; eyes snapped opened to reveal gold irises. I looked around urgently for the sound that had made me nearly jump out of my streamlining. In front of me were three grey faces staring back at me, 3 pairs of golden eyes staring at me with curiosity, observing me. I didn't know where I was, what I was, or whatever in the world was going on. As they continued to stare at me, I began to panic and made an attempt to escape, jolting back slightly only to find myself unable to move any further. I heard a crash behind me and a lot of swearing from several sources… which in turn only caused me to freak out further.

The three black figures before me were stunned by my sudden outburst, and probably a little amused. "Woah, woah, calm down! No need to panic!" The center figure said to me soothingly.

The one to her right snickered, "Well now… that's never happened before!"

"Morrigan, shut up."

"Who are you?!" I demanded, "Where am I and what's going on?!" I tried to sound as threatening as possible, glaring at the trio and to make up for my previous reaction.

"Now _that_ ," Morrigan continued, "is a more typical reaction."

"Hush!" The center figure ordered before turning her attention back to me, speaking calmly once more, a friendly smile on her full, red lips, "I'm Misty, number 600." She revealed gently, doing her best to stop another performance. "I was the first J built which makes me your eldest sister. The one to my right is Morrigan - -"

"I'm Morrigan, number 610." The one of the right interrupted, "I'm the _popular_ J."

Misty offered her a look of unamusement as she was cut off, but didn't comment further. "Yeah… she's one of your older sisters." She frowned as she looked over to her left, "And the one who blew her whistle at you is our youngest sister, Missy. Her number is 613."

Missy smiled brightly, blowing her whistle loudly again, "Hello!"

Misty cringed, closing her eyes for a moment in an attempt to reel in her temper. "Missy... please?"

"Sorry…"

"Now then," Misty cleared her voice. "As I said before, _we_ are your sisters, but there are more. _Ten_ more to be exact, but you'll meet them later. You also have 22 cousins. You should see them, they look just like us but a bit smaller! 4-8-2s… they're so cute!"

I watched with an arched brow and a confused expression as my apparent sister got mushy over whatever a '4-8-2' was. I had the immediate urge to bolt again, but I knew I couldn't. "What are you talking about? What's a 4-8-2?"

Misty smiled, unfazed by my confusion this time. "You'll see! And to answer your other question, you're a J little sister, Norfolk and Western's cream of the crop, the perfect balance of power and speed. The Norfolk and Western is the "England of the United States" when it comes to quality. You won't find high standards elsewhere and we work hard to maintain those standards no matter what job we are assigned. You're a streamliner, built to be beautiful and pull the only most prestigious of trains like the Powhattan Arrow and Cavalier! Virginia is your home, your kingdom, and Roanoke is where we are now, where you were built. Here, steam is still king, or queen rather and you, little sister, are one of those queens." She took a breath and gave me a moment to try to soak it all in.

Me a queen? I didn't even know what that was at the time, along with everything else she had said, but it sounded amazing! Her words didn't make anything clear, but they did put me a little at ease. I stayed quiet for a while, thinking about all that I was told. This place… Roanoke, the Norfolk and Western… it sounded like a pretty uptight place which meant I already had expectations to uphold, and I didn't even really know what I was.

"Now then," Misty continued, "you should be given a name! Normally that's your crew's job, but we do things different here on the N&W. Here the first engine of each class gets the honors."

"And that means you'll name me, I suppose?" I asked with a mix of worry and genuine wonder.

Misty beamed, "Exactly! Since we all start with the letter "M" your name will be no different! Hmm… How about Macy?"

I frowned lightly, "No, I don't like it."

"Well, that's OK. A lot of us don't go for the first suggestion. When I was built the N&W wanted to name me Maude!" Misty remained upbeat and quickly thought up another. "How's Maya sound?"

I wrinkled my nose at the suggestion. "... No, I don't think I like that either."

"Marion?"

"No."

"Maybelle?"

"I don't think so."

"Monica?"

"Not that either."

"Medea?"

"Nope."

Misty must had spent 10 minutes offering names and I shot every one of them down. None of them seemed to fit, they all sounded horrible. My big sister's confidence fell further as time went on and I could tell she was getting frustrated, but did her best not to show it. Missy and Morrigan giggled as Misty sighed in defeat. I remained quiet, unsure as to what to say. Just then, the sound of crunching gravel caught our attention and looked up to see two male figures in your typical railroad garb approaching us, me specially.

The somewhat older and rounder of the pair let out a hearty laugh, doubling over somewhat as he turned his attention to my sister it was clear he already knew what was up. "Annnd _that's_ why locomotives shouldn't name locomotives! Having issues again, eh Misty?" he asked.

My eldest sister frowned, pouting, "It's not funny Vinnie. What's with these new builds? They're so picky…"

"Maybe you're just bad with names?" Morrigan asked cheekily.

Misty's eyes narrowed, glaring threateningly at her. However the man referred to as Vinnie stepped in, turning his kind brown eyes towards me, his face showing early signs of age with a bit of facial hair to boot. "Did she try to name ya Maude?"

"No." I responded quickly. Who were these people?

"What are you doing here anyway, Vinnie?" Misty jumped in. "Shouldn't you be in the yards?"

"Nope!" He beamed, "The N&W finally saw my real worth, that I spent several years overseas bombing the Japs," he said that last part under his breath. "This lady right here is my engine now!" Vinnie looked back at me, still smiling, "Pleasure to meet ya, Miss…" he took a few steps back to look behind me. "... 611. My name is Vinnie, I'm your engineer. And this young buck to my left is George, he's gonna be your fireman."

The taller and younger man smiled kindly at me as well, taking his hat off. "It's a pleasure, Miss 611." He spoke differently than Vinnie or my sisters, I couldn't be sure where he was from but I knew it probably wasn't from around here. He looked back at Vinnie for a moment, "Wow you weren't kidding about Yank locomotives being bigger."

"I told you! Far better than those oversized tea kettles you Brits call steam engines, and ours look better too. None of that unturned bathtub crap."

George smirked, "I wouldn't say all that, but yes they are pretty."

Vinnie waved him off, "Don't mind him, ladies, he's European and doesn't know what a _real_ locomotive looks like or sounds like. So I made sure he was able to once we got back to the States from the war." He looked to his fireman, "What did you say you worked for back there? The LMER or somethin'?"

"LNER…"

"Yeah, that. Anyway Miss 611 since your sister can't give you a proper name, we'll do it." The two men conversed among themselves out of our range. It didn't take them nearly as long as it did Misty to come up with a fitting name. Vinnie nodded at George and looked at me, "We got a name for you 611, _Madison._ How's that sound to you little lady?"

"Madison? Madison..." I repeated quietly, allowing the name to roll around in my smokebox.

"Sounds _proper_ ," Morrigan stated. "It sounds elegant, making it a perfect fit for a J! It's a far more suitable name than _Medea_."

Misty sniffed in disdain, "Hmph, I would have thought of it eventually."

"Doubt it…"

"I like it!" Missy added with another ear piercing whistle.

I said the name again as I continued to mull it over. Didn't matter if my sisters liked it, all that mattered was if _I_ liked it! It would be _my_ name after all and I'd be stuck with it for the rest of my life. I had to be certain. "Mm… Madison huh? I guess that's not a bad name." I answered finally. "It _is_ a better name that Medea… or Maude." I smiled a little, "Madison it is!"

* * *

 _May 28, 2015 - Spencer, North Carolina_

The memories of my first moments of life and my first crew bring tears to my eyes, but I manage to reel it in. I look out onto the dozens of people waiting patiently for me to come from my berth; it's bittersweet. I wish my family was here to see me now, to witness my second rebirth. I let out a small sigh; at least I'm going home soon, hopefully tomorrow as it will be my birthday. I laugh at little at that, I'll be 65 tomorrow. That's pretty young for a steam engine these days, and I flaunt my age gracefully. Thinking back, I wonder if they'll return Vivian to steam. It's not fair to only have me in operation and she'd surely help bring in the money… and I could have a break!

Boy could I use some down time! I haven't been back in steam long and I'm already ready for a vacation. I mean, Spencer's nice and all, and I'm forever grateful to those who helped put me back together but Spencer is… well… it's a bit dull. Roll out, spin on the turntable, and get blinded by dozens of flashing cameras, watch old men foam over me blowing my whistle, roll around for a bit, and do it all over again the next day. I can't wait to go back to Roanoke and pull passenger trains up and down the Norfolk Southern main.

Norfolk _Southern…_

The name is still foreign to me and doesn't roll off the tongue like Norfolk and _Western_. Yes, yes I'm aware there was a Norfolk Southern back in the hay day but still… Eh.

"Ready to go, girl?"

The sound of a male voice catches my attention and I look down to see Scott Lindsay standing before me in a grey shirt and shorts, his eyes hidden by sunglasses. He's the uh…Oh, the _President, Steam Operations Corporation and the Chief Mechanical Officer_ for my restoration as he once told me. He was also part of my crew during my last excursion run. I just call him Scott, personally. I let out another sigh, "Am I going home today?"

Scott shakes his head, "Not today, girl."

"Then… can I go home _tomorrow?_ It _is_ my birthday!"

"Nope, I told you when you're heading back."

I can't help but slump on my drivers. OK, I knew that, but I thought maybe he'd change his mind. One must make accommodations for the Queen of Steam! "So…" I say glumly, "What am I doing today? Same shit, different day?"

"Heh, kind of, but we're gonna let you pull some trains today."

I instantly perked up, "Trains you say? What kind of trains? Will I have my coaches?" My eyes narrow slightly, "I've seen modern excursion trains and they're always mismatched! I refuse to haul anything that doesn't match my colors!"

"Well too bad Ma'am, you're pulling small freight train today for the photo-opt and then - -"

"Freight?!" I scream, "You can't put me of a freight train, Scott! I'm a passenger engine!"

Scott folds his arms in front of his chest, taking on a more serious stance. "You've pulled freight before, Madison. It's not going to kill you."

"Yeah well, what if it does?" I add quickly, not ready to accept my fate. A freight train of all things, really? Is freight _really_ that interesting these days? What's the matter with today's railfans?! "I haven't operated properly in 20 years! I could hurt myself or pull a side rod or my drivers may lock up or maybe they even have flat spots!"

"You don't have any flat spots, Madison." His tone became flatter, "And you can't _pull_ a side rod. You'll be fine. Before you interrupted me I was going to add that afterwards, you'd be on a passenger train for a bit."

I go quiet briefly and consider my next choice of words, "Can I do that first?"

"Nope."

"Damn it…"


End file.
